The City of Beaumont has appealed several Open Record requests that seek the name of the Beaumont Police officer who shot a man armed with a knife at Parkdale Mall on Dec. 29.

The city's letter to the Texas Attorney General's office, released Wednesday and dated last Thursday, asserts that release of the officer's name to The Beaumont Enterprise and two of the three local television stations could compromise an ongoing criminal investigation. The letter notes that the Texas Open Records Act authorizes such exceptions.